post-gazette.com
Full speed ahead: At 73 Joe Paterno's enthusiasm for coaching hasn't diminished
Sunday, March 19, 2000
By Ron Cook, Post-Gazette Columnist
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The family of four came from Harrisburg bearing handshakes and hugs for Joe Paterno and gifts for the two newest Paterno grandchildren.
Joe Paterno has led Penn State's football team onto the field for 34 seasons - and he has no plans to stop anytime soon. "I don't want to slow down," he said. (John Beale, Post-Gazette)
The father also had a request.
"A favor, Joe, please."
Doesn't everyone want a piece of Paterno, especially now that he's so close to becoming the winningest coach in major college football history?
"Could we just get a quick picture?"
The next thing you know, Paterno's arm was around the shoulders of the man's handicapped daughter. You should have seen her smile for the camera.
"Are you going to come back here for the Special Olympics June 8-11? I'm going to be there," Paterno said to the girl, who was too shy to look him in the eye.
"She didn't get picked," the mother said.
"That's OK," Paterno said, giving the girl a light kiss on the cheek. "Come anyway. We'll have a good time."
Paterno worked his way quickly around the group. Soon, his arm was around the mother. Click! Then, the father. Click! Finally, the grandmother. Click!
One picture to be treasured had turned into four.
"You are a great man, a gift from God," the grandmother gushed. Then, almost without thinking, she added, "We wanted to get your picture before you retired."
Paterno never hesitated.
"Me? Retire? I'm too dumb to retire," he fairly bellowed.
Grandma has no idea.
Paterno isn't just too dumb. He's too stubborn. Too afraid of what comes after Penn State football. Too concerned about his beloved university. And, maybe most of all, too in love with what he's doing.
Retire? That's something other people do.
"Maybe one day I'll say enough is enough, but I haven't gotten to that point yet," Paterno said a few minutes later after the family had left him with an invitation to come to Harrisburg for dinner any time.
"I just don't see any reason to give it up because I'm a certain age. I feel great. I have no ailments. I can still do everything physically that I could do 10 or 15 years ago. I don't feel old. I mean, I have to remind myself, 'Hey, you're 73. Maybe you need to slow down a little.' But I don't want to slow down."
This was a recent Tuesday, late morning. The Penn State students were on spring break and the offices in the university's spectacular, new $13.8-million football complex were mostly vacant. Paterno had just finished taping a public-service announcement for the U.S. Census Bureau. Now, he was sitting at a huge conference table in his office. Later, he would go home for a quick lunch of cottage cheese before coming back to meet one of his former players, Leo Wisniewski, over from Pittsburgh. He says no to many of those who want a piece of him, but never to his players.
Joe Paterno gets a lift from his players in 1998 after his 300th victory. An even bigger milestone - surpassing Bear Bryant's record win total (323) - should come next season. (John Beale, Post-Gazette)
"This is too big for me," Paterno said, gesturing around him at his palatial office. The next second, he was out of his chair.
"Hey, come here for a second. I want you to see this ...
"I've got my own kitchen in here. My own shower and bathroom. I should live here."
Paterno laughed.
"I didn't do this for me. I don't need all this. I did it for the next coach. It's all about keeping up with the Joneses. I don't want our people telling the next coach, 'Hey, Paterno didn't need a big office. Why do you?'"
The next coach at Penn State?
That thought has become almost laughable.
On Jan. 24, Penn State announced it had signed Paterno to a five-year contract extension through the 2004 season. He doesn't just want to fulfill it, which would give him 55 years at Penn State, including 39 as head coach. He wants to go beyond it.
Beyond his 78th birthday.
And they say coaching is a young man's game.
"It's not like I feel like I'm cheating old age or death by continuing to coach," Paterno said when reminded that another legendary coach, Bear Bryant, retired after the 1982 season and died a month later.
"I'm not afraid of those things. But I would be scared if I sat here and told you I was getting out after next year. I'd wonder what the devil I was going to do with myself."
Paterno admitted he worries about staying too long. His harshest critics say he already has. Since joining the Big Ten Conference in 1993, Penn State has won only one championship and finished in third place or worse six times. It has been upset at home by Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota and gone 3-4 against both Ohio State and Michigan with three consecutive losses to Michigan. In four of the past five seasons, it has lost three games.
The past three seasons were especially painful for Penn State fans.
In 1997, the Nittany Lions started No. 1 in the national polls and finished No. 16 after lopsided losses to Michigan, Michigan State and Florida. Before the Citrus Bowl loss to Florida, Paterno had to throw leading receiver Joe Jurevicius off the team because of academic deficiencies and suspend All-American running back Curtis Enis for accepting gifts from an agent.
In 1998, the Nittany Lions were soundly whipped by Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Last season might have been Paterno's toughest because it could have been his last, best shot to win another national championship. Penn State was 9-0 and No. 2 before losing consecutive close games to Minnesota, Michigan and Michigan State. Its offense couldn't make critical first downs. Its defense, which featured three first-team All-Americans, couldn't make a big stand and protect late fourth-quarter leads at home against Minnesota and Michigan. The team finished No. 11 after blowing out Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl -- the first time in eight years Penn State didn't play in a New Year's Day bowl -- but that was a long way from the national championship game in the Sugar Bowl.
Paterno took all of the defeats hard, especially the three last season. "I think about them every day." He also blames himself. "Of course, I do. We can't expect to win them all because the Big Ten is so tough, but we never should have lost three in a row like that in the fourth quarter. I thought we'd play better defense ... I always feel like I could have done something differently when we lose close games. I'm not one of those guys who gripes about officiating or luck. I'm going to second-guess myself."
But Paterno doesn't buy The Sporting News' description of Penn State's 1999 season: "One of the all-time wastes of talent."
"One of the reasons I've stayed in coaching so long and enjoyed it so much is I don't pay attention to anyone else's opinion. But that, to me, is ridiculous. That was a hard-working group. We just didn't have enough."
Nor does Paterno believe those three losses are a signal he has lost something as a coach.
"I'm working harder today and giving more to football than I ever have. My kids are gone ...
"Listen, I never was one of the greatest fathers in the world. But I did try to spend time with the kids. I try to spend time now with my [seven] grandkids. But I'm not shortchanging football. We're not taking any short cuts here."
Paterno still won't delegate much authority to his assistants the way Bobby Bowden -- one of his few contemporaries -- has at Florida State.
"The time might come when I say to [assistant head coach] Fran Ganter, 'I need you to do a few more things.' And the day might come when I need to use a golf cart to get around at practice. If I have to do that, I will. But that's when I'll start to think it might be time to get out. My coaching style would be changed then. I still run from drill to drill. I'm not a golf cart coach. I'm not a tower coach."
Penn State officials aren't eager to see Paterno leave. They asked him to go public with news of his contract extension. That's a first at Penn State.
"They're in the middle of a $1.2 billion fundraising drive here and they want me involved in it," Paterno said. "They know people want to know what's going to happen to the football program after I'm gone. They know they're asking, 'Why should I buy the luxury boxes and club seats now?' This lets people know I want to go five more years."
Penn State is adding 60 luxury boxes for the 2001 season as part of an $84 million expansion of Beaver Stadium.. Forty-five have been sold. They're also adding 10,000 seats, including 4,000 club seats, in the south end zone.
There had been speculation Penn State announced Paterno's contract status to help recruiting. For years, opposing schools have been telling recruits not to go to Penn State because Paterno won't coach much longer. It hasn't worked. Penn State's latest recruiting class was ranked anywhere from No. 1 to No. 5 by the recruiting services.
"I still like recruiting," Paterno said. "I've never liked the travel, but I enjoy going into the homes. This probably will sound a little self-serving, but I'm something of a celebrity now. People are so gracious to me. When I first came through, they didn't always turn the TV off. Now, at least, they turn the TV off."
There still is speculation Paterno hopes to coach long enough that his son, Jay, can take over as his successor. Jay Paterno, the father of new twins, will coach the Penn State quarterbacks next season after working as his father's tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator the past five years.
"I hope that doesn't happen. That would be tough on him," Paterno said.
"I treat him the same as all the other coaches."
Then, grinning, Paterno said, "They'll tell you I treat them all miserably. They're right. I'm not an easy guy to work for. I don't come in after games and say, 'You guys did a great job.' I'm more likely to say, 'We could have done this better.' I'm a glass-is-half-empty kind of guy."
That seems strange because Paterno's glass has been full for most of his career. He has led Penn State to two national championships, five unbeaten seasons and 20 Top Ten finishes. He has coached in more bowl games (30) and won more (20) than any coach.
The topper almost certainly will come next season. Bryant holds the Division I record for coaching victories, 323. Paterno has 317. Penn State figures to go at least 7-5 next season even though it loses nine defensive starters, including All-Americans LaVar Arrington, Courtney Brown and Brandon Short, from last year's squad.
"We sure hope [the record] happens next season," Paterno said.
That's all he'll say about it. He wouldn't talk about win No. 300 before it happened, either. But after Penn State beat Bowling Green, 48-3, early in the 1998 season, he choked up when he addressed the Beaver Stadium crowd during an impromptu ceremony at midfield.
"I'm so overwhelmed. I can't tell you how filled up I am with memories of people, all the years ...
"With every moment of my 48 years I've been at Penn State, we've had people who believe in this institution ... and that includes all of you fans. I love every one of you. I could not have done it without every single one of you."
A big picture of Paterno being carried off the field by his players after that game sits in a corner of his new office. He hasn't found the right place to hang it.
"What happened with the crowd made that day so special," Paterno said. "We won in a runaway, but everybody stayed to the end. That made it really emotional for me.
"I'll probably be emotional if it happens again, but, to tell you the truth, I haven't spent a minute thinking about it. The only thing I think about are those three losses last year."
Maybe it's just as well that Paterno isn't dwelling on the record. He might not have it for long. Bowden has won 304 games. He's 70 and has no plans of retiring. He could outlast Paterno.
Bowden and Paterno are close friends and just spent a week together in Mexico on an annual Nike-sponsored trip for coaches and their wives. But their coaching styles couldn't be more different. Paterno generally has run a clean program, although Enis' problem with the agent was a notable blemish. Bowden won the national championship last season with a variety of unsavory characters.
Can you say Criminoles?
A lot of people will scream if Bowden ends up taking the record from Paterno.
"I've never talked to Bobby about it, but I know he's not a hypocrite," Paterno said. "He's never tried to cover anything up. He just does what he feels is appropriate for his team.
"Why should I be offended by that? I couldn't get mad at Tom Osborne, either. I genuinely admire Tom and Bobby. They're great coaches and great people.
"I'm not going to judge other people by my standards. That's what's wrong with our country. If I'm against abortion and you're for it, we're supposed to hate each other. I think that's wrong. I think abortion is a horrible thing, but that doesn't mean I can't be friends with someone who thinks the other way."
Paterno seems almost pleased that Bowden is pushing the envelope with him in terms of coaching longevity. It makes him feel a little less alone.
"I had to laugh at Bobby and his son on the Nike trip," Paterno said. "Tommy was teasing him about getting old. Tommy is at Clemson now and he did a great job there last year. But you know what? He still can't outcoach the old man."
That sounds like a potential epitaph, doesn't it? Not just for Tommy Bowden, but for Paterno's successor, whether it's Ganter, Jay Paterno or someone else.
He couldn't outcoach the old man. |
